MORE than 100 pieces of manuscripts contributed by Chinese cultural personages are now accessible to the public in an admission-free exhibition titled “妙笔华章 (Delicate Touches and Brilliant Chapters)” staged at the Shanghai Library from November 21 till December 1.

This is the first thematic display featuring the Chinese modern and contemporary manuscript collection of the Shanghai Library, since it commenced the annual show of its treasured collections in the end of 2005.

Available at this year’s show are a total of 129 pieces of manuscripts written by 99 late Chinese novelists, translators, playwrights, historians, artists and poets, including Mao Dun, Ba Jin, Xia Yan, Lao She, Tao Xingzhi, Liu Yazi, Ju Zheng, Bing Xin, Xiao Qian, Ji Xianlin, Qian Zhongshu, Wang Yuanhua, Mei Lanfang, Bo Yang, all are big names in the modern and contemporary history of Chinese culture. Many of the exhibits are making their public debut since they were composed in the last century.  

On display in parallel are a number of private writing materials, including ink stone, brush, pen, paper-weight, pencil vase, brush washer, and magnifier.

Thanks to the unremitting efforts of collecting and preserving the manuscript items from the 1950s, as well as the contributions from a galaxy of famous scholars and artists and their family members, the Shanghai Library now boasts nearly 150,000 original pieces of Ming and Qing Dynasty poems, monographs, diaries and letters together with several hundred of thousands of archives of the modern Chinese celebrities, making itself a leading custodian in China of such a rich cultural heritage.

Elaborate and meticulous conversation and preservation work on the manuscript holdings has been effectively performed, relying on the experience and expertise of the staff plus the cutting-edge technologies and facilities. Meanwhile, the Library has organised a team to carry out systematic research work. A series of research findings and monographs have already been published.

On the opening ceremony of the exhibition on November 21, the Shanghai Library launched an initiative to solicit manuscripts of celebrities from all walks of life, calling for joint efforts to rescue and protect the vanishing manuscript materials.

A grand pictorial album under the same title of the exhibition was published by the Shanghai Library to complement the annual show. Two lectures are also scheduled respectively on November 25 and 29 to promote the public understandings of the manuscript materials.